Selene: the Moon's Reincarnation

Selene's POV

Father's palm swished through the air like a bullet and landed painfully on my face. I could taste blood in my mouth but didn't dare utter a word unless I wanted a harsher punishment.

"You insolent little swine!" he said, spit flying from his mouth and his eyes shining with disgust, "I should have sent you away when I had the chance."

I remained silent, my eyes trained on the floor. This was like every other day at home. Mother would flood me with chores and errands, leaving me with no time for anything else but still expect me to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ashley was not at home as usual, probably somewhere off with her friends partying in the woods and having fun like a teenager should. Not like me, slaving away at home because if I don't, it was as good as saying goodbye to my privilege of a roof over my head.

But I'm not complaining, far from it. I preferred staying indoors, at least to avoid the pack members that would swarm like sharks if I ever strayed far from home or tried to socialize.

"Get out of my sight," Father said, slumping back into his armchair with a bottle of beer, "Better get started on making dinner or you're dead meat."

As I scrambled to leave the room, my Father said something that made me stop dead in my tracks.

"And one more thing, I better not see you at the festival tomorrow. The Dead Moon is a once in a lifetime event and I won't have you ruin our pack's good fortune with your bad luck. Understood?"

I nodded quickly, not wanting to make him more angry then went to the kitchen. The reason for my Father's anger? Well, I had dared to go to the market as Mother asked me to and couldn't find her favorite type of fruit. That was a different brand of trouble I didn't want to think about right now as I hastily made dinner; some potato salad and braised pork. To pass time, I sang while working; it made time fly by and lightened my spirits a bit. Outside, the sun was setting fast so I doubled my speed to set the table before Mother and Ashley came home. Sure enough, the front door opened and Ashley's obnoxious voice filled the house.

"...and Steve was there, crazy right? Good thing I'd gotten rid of Rachel, if not she could've whored him right out of my arms."

I could hear Mother's annoyed sigh and didn't blame her one bit. Ashley was exhausting to listen to and she loved to talk a lot.

"Oh look, the table is barely ready for dinner and it's just standing there." It took a moment for me to realise Ashley and Mother were standing there, their hateful eyes glaring at me.

It was tough to come to terms with Mother's gradual disdain for me at first because it was Father that had practically disowned me when I failed to transform to my wolf at the ripe age. Mother had tried to hold on to hope, as I could remember from those few years of joy and childhood bliss, as she and Father often had hushed discussions at the table while glancing over at me. As time went on, however, her worried gaze turned hateful. She started to hate her own daughter as much as her husband did, maybe even worse. Only Ashley stuck by her at the time, her childish innocence untouched by their hate. As the entire pack learned of my 'disability', their distrust and hate grew and Father absolutely hated the bad attention it was bringing upon his family name. He'd tried to convince Mother to get rid of me but she couldn't agree to it, her Wolf's motherly instincts too strong to do so.

When Ashley transformed to her beautiful grey wolf at the age of 13, it all came crashing down. Like Mother and Father, she became convinced that me being wolfless was bad luck on the entire pack. Now at 20 years old, it was only a matter of time before I'm is driven into the woods, doomed to roam the wilderness forever as a lonely rogue. So I've swallowed every abuse, every hateful stare almost greedily. As long as I was under the safety of a pack, no matter how distrusting they were of her, I was content with that.

Everyone sat down to eat and I tried to retreat back to the kitchen, eager to have some leftover food hidden in a pot in the oven.

"Where are you going, Selene? Did Dad ask you to leave?" Ashley said, her high-pitched voice deliberately taunting, "Stand beside the table at least, what if I need some water? Or what if I dropped my spoon?"

My limbs trembled with fear and exhaustion as I just stood there silently as everyone else ate their dinner. I was extremely tired from working hard all day long and my tummy hurt with hunger but I had no choice if I wanted to live here. Soon they finished their dinner and Mother cleared her throat, signaling me to clear the dinner table. Nowadays, she never said more than three hate-filled words to me in a day, it was as if she was disgusted even sharing the same space as a wolfless wolf. I hurried to do so, balancing on dish above another, not knowing that Ashley had stuck out her foot.

Crash!

I let out a short cry as I fell, ceramic plates crashing down with me. Shit. I was dead for sure this time. My palms burned-blood trickling from where shards of the broken plates had sliced into them-and my knees throbbed with pain.

"You stupid creature, look at what you've done!" Mother roared, reaching for the large stick she kept by the corner. Her favorite form of punishment. "Ruined all my fine china because you can't do anything right!"

The stick had hurt the first time I felt it, but now... it was just dull. A blunt ache. Over and over and over until I couldn't feel it anymore. What did hurt-what always hurt-was the way she looked at me, as if I wasn't hers. As if I were a stranger. I shut my eyes tightly to block it out.

"Get out of my sight," she hissed.

I scrambled to obey, pushing myself off the floor and limping toward the stairs. Ashley's devilish cackle followed behind me, and then Father's cold, silent frown. Neither came to help.

I slammed the attic door shut behind me and shoved a small stool beneath the handle hole to keep it shut. There wasn't even a doorknob. Crawling into the corner beside my moth-ridden mattress, I curled up, shaking as the tears came. I cried even harder when my stomach growled, and I remembered my only food for the day-still downstairs, hidden in the oven.

Outside, the moon peeked through a sheet of gray clouds-pale, brilliant, and far too honest.

Am I truly a curse? An abomination to my pack?

Everyone had a wolf. So why didn't I? The moon stayed quiet, mocking me with its silence.

There had never been a wolfless wolf in our community. Never. Maybe a late bloomer or two, but everyone always felt their wolf. Sometimes they even spoke with them, their souls braided as one. And eventually, everyone transformed-Alpha, Beta, or Omega-usually around the age of twelve.

Everyone... except me.

I had no choice but to accept what I was: a wolfless Omega. The lowest of the low. The shame of the pack. The runt.

I wiped my tears and curled tighter into myself on the bare mattress. I'd always imagined I'd die on this bed. Close my eyes and never wake up in this cruel world again.

Maybe someday I would. That thought comforted me as sleep dragged me under.

I wasn't awake to hear the voice that drifted through the attic like mist-soft, ethereal, lilting.

"...You are destined for great things, my Selene. I will make you untouchable..."